News & Stories

Prof He Xuhua, Associate Professor of Mathematics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was awarded the prestigious 2013 Morningside Gold Medal of Mathematics. The announcement was made at the opening of the International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM) in Taipei, Taiwan. Prof He is the only scholar in Hong Kong receiving this prestigious award this year. The ICCM is held triennially, and the Morningside Gold Medal of Mathematics is to honor mathematicians of Chinese descent, under the age of forty-five, for their exceptional achievements in mathematics. Both the ICCM and the Morningside Medals of Mathematics are modeled after the renowned older quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), and the Fields Medal, a mathematics equivalent of a Nobel Prize.

Two pioneering research projects at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) led by Prof Che-ting Chan, Chair Professor of the Department of Physics and Prof Mingjie Zhang, Kerry Holdings Professor of Science of the Division of Life Science were awarded close to $100 million in total by the University Grants Committee (UGC) under its Sixth Round of Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme.

Prof Ping Sheng, Prof Che-ting Chan and Prof Jason Yang of the Department of Physics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) were jointly awarded the inaugural Brillouin Medal by the International Phononics Society (IPS) for their discovery of locally resonant acoustic / elastic metamaterials and related contributions. Prof Sheng and Prof Chan attended the second International Conference on Phononic Crystals / Metamaterials, Phonon Transport & Optomechanics (Phononics 2013) held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in early June to receive the Medal and deliver the Award Lecture.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) held its annual ceremony for the award of Honorary Fellowships today. Officiating at the ceremony were Mr Martin Y Tang, Council Vice-Chairman and Prof Tony F Chan, President of HKUST. Four distinguished leaders awarded the 2013 Honorary Fellowships are Dr Robin Chan, Mr Cheah Cheng-Hye, Prof Takako Nishizaki and Dr Zhang Ya-Qin. Their brief biographies are set out as follows:

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has achieved research breakthrough with a novel approach, using ultrathin lead nanowires to produce magnetic fields which are 200 times stronger and increase the temperature of the environment in which superconductors operate. The research, providing solutions to a bottleneck unsolved for over a century concerning low applications of superconductors due to ultra low temperatures and low magnetic critical fields required, is envisaged to greatly enhance superconductor-based technologies to facilitate their applications in medical and biological fields such as high-resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) devices for cancer and stroke detection. The breakthrough research is published in the prestigious nanoscience and technology journal ACS Nano..

Ford Motor Company today announced that it will be bringing its global Conservation and Environmental Grants program to Hong Kong for the first time, in partnership with the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Ford will donate HKD500,000 for the Ford-HKUST Conservation and Environmental Research Grants, which will be matched by HKUST for a total fund of HKD1,000,000. Postgraduate students from the University's School of Engineering will be offered academic grants for research in the fields of environmental and conservation science, as well as conservation engineering, to help promote innovation, environmental conservation and technological advancement. A maximum of 20 projects will be supported during the 2013-2014 academic year.

A garage sale with over 195 stalls of new and pre-loved goods will be held in the covered car park at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) this Saturday (15 June). In line with the commitment of HKUST to environmental sustainability, the biannual Garage Sale endorses the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Replace-Rethink (5Rs) campaign. Mrs Jean Hudson, the garage sale coordinator, takes delight in the enthusiastic reception by the HKUST community, outside organizations and general public at large. That the event is well-received by the charitable organizations adds to it even more significance. People come from all over Hong Kong to participate from as far as Sheung Shui and Tsuen Mun to the south side of Hong Kong Island and everywhere else in between. As in previous years, the proceeds from the table hire fees will be donated to charities for the benefit of many people in a variety of ways. This is a fun and enjoyable community event.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was just named the top university in Asia for the third straight year by the highly reputable Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Rankings: Asia. Mr Ben Sowter, Head of Research at QS Intelligence Unit highlighted that Asian higher education is undergoing a rapid transformation, and China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea are at the forefront of the assault on the global academic leadership positions. There are already 17% more Asian universities in the global top 200 since the recession, and the next two decades could see leading US and European universities objectively overtaken.